1. Field
Example embodiments relate to error-control codes (ECC), for example, to ECC encoding/decoding methods for memory devices.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally, a path for transmitting information may be referred to as a channel. When information is transmitted using wired communication, the channel may be a transmission line transmitting the information, and when information is transmitted using a wireless communication, the channel may be electromagnetic waves passing the information through air.
Also, a process of storing information in a semiconductor memory device and reading the stored information from the semiconductor memory device may be the channel. The channel may be a temporal lapse from storing of the information to reading of the information, and may also be a physical path of storing information in the semiconductor memory device and reading the stored information from the semiconductor memory device.
While information is being transmitted via the channel, the information may be corrupted. The corrupted information may include an error and thus research is being conducted on apparatuses and methods of detecting the error from the corrupted information and eliminating the detected error to restore the initial information.
A process of adding ECC to the initial information prior to transmitting the information to thereby generate transmission information may be referred to as an ECC encoding process. A process of separating the added information and the initial information after receiving the transmission information to thereby restore the initial information may be referred to as an ECC decoding process.
Depending on channel characteristics, an error rate in the channel may be relatively large. As the error rate increases, a code rate may decrease and/or hardware complexity for ECC encoding and decoding scheme may increase in order to overcome the error and achieve the desired performance.